Pop Up Butterfly

This beautiful Pop up Butterfly will make a perfect get well or birthday card and is sure to make everyone smile. This project may be better suited to the more experienced kids, but even the little ones will enjoy watching the butterfly evolve.

Trivia: There are four stages in the life cycle of butterflies: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

Supplies

Heavy paper or cardstock
Sharp scissors
Crayons or Markers if you want to decorate.

Instructions

Click on printables and print out the two pattern pages for the Pop Up Butterfly on a heavy paper, like card stock or construction paper.

Color the pieces of the butterfly after printing them out. Don't go to the next step until you've colored your butterfly! You can use crayons, pencils or markers but not paint (it will warp the paper).

Use the rounded end of a paper clip to "score" (press along) the dotted lines ----. Score both butterfly pieces and down the center of the card itself.

Carefully cut out the pop-up pieces and card along the black outlines ______.

Wiggle the tabs marked A and B back and forth a bit to loosen them along the score.

Put a small amount of white glue on the back side of tab A and place over the area marked A on the card. Let dry!

Slide the B half of the butterfly down into the A half. Make sure the the head and antenna of the B butterfly is in front as shown.

Put glue on the back side of tab B and place over area B on the card. Let dry!

Carefully close card, then pop-up!

You can make this pop-up larger by enlarging the print outs on a photocopy machine. Make sure that you enlarge the pop-up pieces and card the exact same amount.

Patterns, Templates and Printables

Click on a pattern to open it in a new window

Other Images

Click on an image to open it in a new window

Contributor

Robert works in his studio in New York City that he shares with his partner, children's book creator Matthew Reinhart. When asked about his work, Robert says, "We love making books. It's hard work but the best part is not having to worry about making a mess. When being an artist is your job, you can make as many messes as you want to!"